Metallic tantalum (Ta) has been a biomaterial of recent interest for orthopedic applications, as it has been found to be highly corrosion resistant and bioinert, as well as bioactive in vivo, forming a bone-like apatite layer in simulated body fluid that biologically bonds to bone. Tantalum has regained interest in the biomaterials field mainly due to a new porous (trabecular) tantalum material of micro-porosity approved by the FDA in 1997, which has been shown to possess excellent osseointegrative properties. Since then, many studies have compared the biocompatibility, bacterial adherence and osteoconductivity of Ta with that of other common implant materials, such as Ti and CoCr. A recent demonstrated that porous Ta stimulates the proliferation and osteogenesis of osteoblasts from elderly female patients with compromised bone-forming abilities. However, despite the promising results to-date, the relatively expensive manufacturing cost, as well as the inability to produce a modular all-Ta implant has prevented its widespread acceptance. Tantalum is also a heavy metal with a density of 16.69 g/cm3, almost four times heavier than Ti implants having a density of 4.51 g/cm3. Such a heavy implant for orthopaedics application is not desirable. Tantalum metal is also much more expensive than titanium metal.